Amish & Maria Saaler

plowing

Thomas Kothmiller-Uhl and Ludwig Bitzan with the "half-boys" Elvis and Wenja.(Bild: Uta Rojsek-Wiedergut)

In March, the farmer harnesses the horses: The open-air museum in Maria Saal has brought in four professionals to plow, harrow, sow and plant.

Time goes like a plowshare" goes the Carinthian song. Ludwig Bitzan, who tills the fields at the open-air museum in Maria Saal with Thomas Kothmiller-Uhl, the "half-boy" Elvis and the Noriker mare Wenja, also uses the plow. "If the plow is set correctly, you don't have to hold it, let alone press it into the ground," explain the two Maria Saal residents. The plowing depth, width and camber, i.e. how far the soil is turned over, can be adjusted. "This also varies depending on the subsoil. It takes a lot of time, years, to get it all right. The horses also have to be guided perfectly, they must not walk at an angle. Plowing involves a lot of mental work. And it remains strenuous work," reveals the coachman, carter and vegetable farmer Kothmiller-Uhl.